- Plenty of football fans were sorry to see longtime Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward announce his retirement this week. Ward, who admitted he chose retirement over playing with another team after the Steelers waived him following 14 seasons in the Steel City, said his goodbyes at a press conference. "I just wouldn't feel right," Ward said of playing for another franchise. "I can say I'm a Steeler for life and that's the bottom line, that's all I've really ever wanted.” He leaves holding every significant franchise receiving record, including receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns and is eighth on the all-time NFL receptions list with 1,000 career catches. Although other teams contacted him about playing next season, Ward explained, his heart remained in Pittsburgh. However, his heart wasn’t enough when combined with declining skills that left the Steelers unwilling to pay him the $4 million he was due for next season. Instead, the Steelers will find someone else to fill the void of a physical, hard-blocking receiver willing to do all the dirty work. Ward won two Super Bowls during his tenure with the Steelers and will be fondly remembered by most fans for his 14-year career….just not by all of his peers. Bengals safety Chris Crocker played against Ward numerous times and took all of five minutes to allow his retirement to sink in before taking a run at him for being a dirty player. Speaking in an interview with the Bengals’ website, Crocker ripped Ward as a dirty player whom the league will be better off without. “He tried to end people’s careers and that’s not the way the game is supposed to be played,” Crocker said. He accused Ward of punching him in the face during a 2009 game and revisited Ward’s brutal block on Cincinnati linebacker Keith Rivers in 2008, which broke Rivers’ jaw. “Stuff like that, it’s just not right,” Crocker said. “And I’m not the only guy that thinks it.” He conceded that Ward belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but didn’t sound like he would be in the front row waving a terrible towel when Ward is inducted………….
- The controversy over "pink slime" continues. Pink slime may sound like some cheap toy your child buys from the quarter machines at the front of the supermarket, but it’s actually an ammonia-treated meat with a colorful nickname that has been in the deli case of those same supermarkets. Major grocery chains have begun to take a stand against the altered meet, with BJ's Wholesale Club, Giant Food Stores and Wal-Mart all dropping pink slime. The controversy stems from added ingredients in the meat. The so-called slime is a low-cost ingredient made from fatty meat trimmings left over from other cuts. Those leftovers are heated to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and spun to remove most of the fat. The resulting mixture is then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. Along the way, it is exposed to ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella. If not for a meddlesome federal microbiologist who is critical of the product and bestowed its unfortunate nickname upon pink slime, the reaction could have been much different. Instead, the pejorative nickname is being blacklisted by one grocery chain after another. BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said it will stop selling beef products with the additive, starting April 7 for fresh products and April 20 for frozen. Giant Food Stores LLC based in Carlisle, Pa., quickly followed suit in a decision that will affect the 144 Giant stores in Pennsylvania and the 39 Martin's food stores it owns in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Giant spokesman Chris Brand rationalized the decision by saying customers made it clear pink slime "was not something that they wanted to purchase.” Other chains refusing to sell ground beef that contains the filler include Supervalu, Food Lion and Safeway Inc. Kroger is the nation's largest traditional grocer with 2,435 supermarkets in 31 states and losing it as a market for their product is a major blow to companies using the pink slime additive. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for a Hail Mary. Oprah Winfrey nearly ruined the beef industry a few years ago when she railed against its practices and standards on her talk show. Now that her fledgling Oprah Winfrey Network is hemorrhaging money and on the decline, maybe companies selling slime-infused beef should reach out to her, offer their support and pray she returns the favor………..
- Attention, world: Communism in Cuba is about to end. Anyone who doubts that the political and economic systems that have ruled the island nation for decades will soon meet their demise clearly does not understand the power of the Pope. That’s right, Pope Benedict informed the world Friday communism no longer works in Cuba and offered to help the island find new ways of moving forward without "trauma.” On board a flight from Rome to a trip to Mexico and Cuba, the head honcho of the Catholic church explained his position on Cuba’s government. "Today it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality," he said. "New models must be found with patience and in a constructive way." Tearing down a communist bastion 90 miles off the coast of the United States that has lingered as a thorn in the side of the U.S. and president after president sounds like a herculean task, but the Pope is convinced his church can help in achieving a peaceful transition on the island. Trauma has been the buzz word for the Roman Catholic church in recent months when speculating on what may happen in Cuba, particularly after the death of ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who supposedly handed over power to his brother Raul in 2008. "We want to help in a spirit of dialogue to avoid traumas and to help move forward a society which is fraternal and just," Pope Benedict said. He hopes his visit will be successful in piggybacking on the historic 1998 visit to Cuba of his predecessor, Pope John Paul, which "opened up a path of collaboration and constructive dialogue, a road that is long and calls for patience but moves forward." That visit intensified the reconciliation process between the Church and Cuba's communist rulers, who have been at odds for many years following the 1959 Cuban revolution. The two sides still differ substantially on issues such as Church’s use of the media and religious education. Human rights are also an issue and the recent slight increase in property rights for individuals probably won't change the Church’s stance on communism too much. In preparation for the pope’s visit, Cuba released 70 members of the dissident Ladies in White group detained during the weekend but cautioned them not to attend activities related to the pope’s visit. Oddly enough, there are no meetings with Cuban dissidents on the pope's agenda for his visit. Perhaps the pope curried some favor with Cuba last week when the Vatican re-stated its condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. The blockade hit its 50th anniversary last month and isn't likely to end any time soon. In that sense, it has a lot in common with communism in Cuba…………
- And a perfect match goes by the wayside. No one has less credibility or less of an edge when it comes to original, creative, artfully crafted music than Sarah Ferguson, a.k.a. Fergie of the Hack Eyed Peas. She and her HEP cohorts writhe around on stage in semi-futuristic gear that would make Dr. Evil wince, lip-syncing to horrible pop songs they “sang” with minimal or non-existent vocal talent, hoping the world pays more attention to the show than their lack of musical skill. With that in mind, who would be a better choice to judge the aspiring reality karaoke-ers of "The X Factor" than Ferguson? Rumors linking her to the show had been circulating since Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger were fired from the show in January. Ferguson and fellow pop hack Britney Spears were among the big names mentioned in connection with the show and Spears was reportedly offered a $10 million to be a join Cowell and L.A. Reid on the judging panel. Spears foolishly turned down an opportunity she was perfectly suited for and now Ferguson has done the same despite spending much of the show’s time on the air in talks for an on-air role. Yet she pretended (maybe) to be clueless as to why her name was continually linked to the show. "It's kind of funny why this keeps coming up about 'The X Factor.’ I mean, I love Simon and I love the show. It's just that last year, nor this year, do I have the time to commit to that sort of commitment because I would be somebody who would really throw myself into it, as I do with all my projects." Other names mentioned as possible reality karaoke judges have been Pink, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson and the late Whitney Houston. "I think whatever they do ... Simon's a genius and he'll make the right decision," Ferguson said. "And it will all work out." Ah, the blessing of a talent-less pop hack whose sole asset is how hot she is. Sounds like just the boost a growing reality karaoke show needs………….
- Alabama is one of those states that can seem like an entirely different country at times. It’s neither a knock on Alabamans or praise for what they’re all about, merely an observation. That point could be re-emphasized when the Alabama House and Senate return from spring break April 3 and begin considering a bill to establish a "covenant marriage" in their fine state. At its core, the bill’s aim would be to make it harder for couples to get divorced. How? Save the jokes about requiring a literacy test before filing for divorce because calling a state backwater, back woods and redneck and claiming its citizens don’t read so good hasn’t been fresh or acceptable in decades. Actually, the covenant marriage bill would require couples to go to counseling before they could obtain a marriage license and go through more counseling before a divorce can be granted. The Alabama Senate judiciary committee will reconsider the bill lawmakers return from spring break, but critics have decried it as intruding into a married couple’s rights and an attempt to force conservative values on the masses. Its supporters say it wouldn't be required, but merely an option engaged couples could choose. That defense is asinine because if there are no teeth to the bill and it doesn’t mandate anything, how is it any different from the way the world works now, a world in which couples can get pre-marital counseling and seek marriage counseling if their relationship is struggling. Three other states have a bill similar to the covenant marriage option on their books, the most recent being Louisiana, which passed a covenant law in 1997…………..
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